


Between Friends- A Sequins and Feathers story

by Rioghna



Series: Sequins and Feathers [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), Witchblade (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 05:27:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10154834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rioghna/pseuds/Rioghna
Summary: This was written at the request of my sister, BardicRaven as a christmas present, but I got a little tied up, so it's late.  Takes place before A Sequins and Feathers Christmas.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BardicRaven](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BardicRaven/gifts).



 

Between Friends- A Sequins and Feathers story

 

It was a week after Thanksgiving, and several days after Robert Gold had found himself standing in the hallway of an apartment building in Brooklyn, offering (threatening) to go down on his knees and apologise to the closed door, if that was what it took to get Belle to allow him to apologise.

_'Go fix this, Pop,' his son had ordered, after finding his rather despondent father the day after the holiday, clearly considering if getting legless again was a good idea. The younger Gold had promptly and none too gently manhandled his father into a shower, the temperature of which was in keeping with his worldview at that moment, and not the least pleasant. When Robert had got himself out, dressed, and poured several cups of black tea down his throat, all the while being given the bollocking he so richly deserved by his son, he'd finally began considering what was necessary to earn himself her forgiveness, or at least a second chance._

The two of them were still walking carefully around one another. He had given serious consideration to the usual and traditional expensive gifts before rejecting them in favour of strict honesty and her favourite chocolates. Belle had no interest in his money, had made that clear from the beginning, and less in expensive gifts. Rather, when she had let him in, looking like she'd slept as well as he had for the last four days, possibly without the additions of ingesting more alcohol than was strictly healthy, he had volunteered to continue with the proper grovelling, on both knees if necessary.

Instead, Belle had ordered him into the living room, made them tea and asked why she should forgive him. In the end, they had talked almost all night, before, finally, talked out and physically and emotionally exhausted, they had collapsed into her bed. Waking up next to her was almost a dream he thought he had lost.

 

Now he was heading downtown to meet her at school. They had spent just about every moment they'd been free together since, needing the reassurance that things would be all right. Dove pulled up to the barricade, nodded at the security officer on duty, who had started to recognise them, and Gold climbed out, reaching for his phone.

"Gold," a familiar, slightly accented voice called his name, a voice he'd most certainly not been expecting to hear. The tall, elegant form, as impeccably dressed as he was (they had the same tailor), came to join him.

"Irons. This is a surprise," Robert said, shaking hands. "Not your usual haunts, I thought you were rarely caught below 50th."

"It isn't," the other man agreed. "But Layla required some help and asked your Belle."

"Help?" Robert asked. He knew that the girl had shown a great deal of interest and enthusiasm for the exhibit that Belle had been involved in, but he had no idea what kind of help the girl could possibly need. Before he could ask, his phone dinged again.

The message was from Belle. Moments later, she came hurrying out of the building only just managing to catch herself as she tripped over the doorstep. "Robert, Mr. Irons, I'm sorry, we aren't quite finished," she said as she leaned in and pressed a kiss to Gold's cheek. "I thought we would be, but..."

"I've told you, it's Kenneth. How much longer will you need?  I could..." Irons started.

"Oh, it will only take a little while, maybe thirty minutes. Would you like to come up or..."

"There is a pub round the corner," Robert suggested. He wasn't entirely sure what they were working on, but he knew that the two of them would not add anything.

"I'll text when we're finished," Belle said with a smile to them before hurrying off.

"Lead the way," Irons said.

 

Settled in a back booth of the almost entirely empty pub on Seventh Avenue, the two men looked at each other. This was an unusual situation, despite the years they had known each other.

"So, why are we here?" Irons asked. "If you think I've any interest..."

"Not at all, I know quite well where your interests are at the moment. But Belle does not care for being rushed, and regardless of interest, our presence would slow the proceedings. What are they doing?"

"Ah," Kenneth said. "Layla's idea, actually. She is completely taken with what Belle does."

At that, Robert tensed a little. Regardless of what he had just said, he'd known Kenneth Irons for a long time, and Belle _was_ a beautiful woman. He knew that her beauty was not lost on the other man, and he knew the other man well enough to know that his daughter's opinion was one of the very few that mattered to him. Besides, objectively, Irons was the handsomer of the two of them. Robert had no illusions about his looks, and if he had, Milah had been more than willing to disabuse him. He was short, though Belle was shorter, old (Irons' age was indeterminate, he had some ideas, but no interest in finding out), and while they were both equally dangerous, the other man had more polish. _Stop being a jealous idiot_ , a voice that sounded remarkably like his son whispered in his head. He knew it was probably because of their fight, but he acknowledged that he was still a little edgy. "Oh?" he asked, settling for neutral.

"Yes, Ruby called her, apparently she had a little time today," the other man said. Robert let out a breath and reminded himself he'd been an idiot. "Layla's grandmother sent her a costume for her graduation performance that's just after the New Year. It needed some modification. Despite her resistance to the classes, she wishes to show at her best. Her grandmother requested and it is little enough to make the woman happy, with us an ocean away. I am fortunate, her demands are few. In laws can be challenging, or so I've heard."

"I wouldn't know, my ex wife's parents were dead by the time we were married and my son's wife is an orphan."

"And Belle?" Kenneth asked as the waiter set drinks on the table and vanished. It wasn't like the man to ask, but it was hardly a secret.

"Her father is still alive, but I've not met him," Gold said. Now that he'd been reassured, he could relax and despite everything, they understood each other. "I think Belle is not quite ready for us to meet. The age difference is bound to cause some concern, as you know. How is Ruby?" He leaned back and sipped his drink. Two could play the game. They had certainly known each other long enough and well enough to ask questions that others would be too afraid to think of asking them. They both had secrets, and some they shared.

"Lovely as ever, but hardly the same thing," Irons replied knowingly. Robert waited to see if he would say more. "Layla likes her because she is fun and because she does not see Ruby as trying to replace her mother." Robert nodded. "Unlike you and Belle, we are simply enjoying each other's company. She wants nothing from me and neither of us is interested in anything serious. She was quite clear on that point from the first moment."

"Must be refreshing," Gold responded. "I've not much had the issue, and certainly not recently."

Kenneth laughed, a proper laugh, a rare occurrence. "Only because you have a reputation or rather, you lack one."

"I prefer to keep the gossipmongers quiet by keeping a low profile, rather than distracting them with lurid exploits, not that you can manage that anymore either. Not with Layla."

"True. I suppose we have both turned positively respectable," the other man said, raising one pale eyebrow.

"Not that anyone would believe it," Gold said, raising his glass to the other man at the shared joke. Before they could continue, their phones both dinged at once, signalling that their presence was now required.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written at the request of my sister, BardicRaven as a christmas present, but I got a little tied up, so it's late. Takes place before A Sequins and Feathers Christmas.


End file.
